New Delhi: After a landslide victory in Delhi assembly polls on Tuesday, the next CM of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal may become the biggest headache for Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Aam Aadmi Party chief and the national convener aims to seek control of Delhi Police and Delhi Development Authority besides passage of the Jan Lokpal and Swaraj bills. Kejriwal's poll promises and plans pits him in direct confrontation with the home ministry.
Officials from home ministry have already started going through AAP's 70-point manifesto to brief the home minister. While Kejriwal is scheduled to meet Singh in a courtesy call today, the home ministry has already sanctioned Z-plus security for the AAP chief.
The first three points of AAP's manifesto - passage of Jan Lokpal Bill, Swaraj Bill and full statehood for Delhi - stand in conflict with the BJP-led central government's stand on these issues.
In his 49-day stint as chief minister after the 2013 polls, Kejriwal sat on a dharna asking the home ministry to give him control of Delhi Police. He later quit over the non-passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill.
The Union Territory division of the home ministry deals with all legislative and constitutional matters relating to Delhi besides overseeing the law and order situation.
"The Jan Lokpal Bill, in its present form, is not in consonance with the central Lokpal legislation and the home ministry cannot give assent to it," a Home Ministry official told Economic Times.
"The present central political dispensation is also not willing to give up control of Delhi Police. We were not even willing to do it for aBJP government led by Kiran Bedi and had only promised better Centre-state synergy on crime, law & order issues," he added
The official said Kejriwal's proposed framework for the Swaraj Bill may well be "unconstitutional".
The biggest conflict, however, could be over Delhi Police and postings of civil servants and police officers in Delhi, which the home ministry controls.
